Yelp Launches New Interface, Business Pages

Yelp announced that it is rolling out a new site design along with a new look for business pages. Rather than making a few teaks, the’ve elected to take the “from the ground up” approach.

The new design plays up local content contributed by Yelp users, while also making it easier to find business info.

“Since photos are used to determine an incredible amount about a business, the new design puts them front and center,” says product manager Brad Menezes. “Instead of a small thumbnail, we’re featuring up to six big, beautiful photos of the business. Now a quick glance at a restaurant’s page can give you a feel for the dining experience, food quality and ambiance, all within mere seconds.”

This follows changes Yelp made last year to match users’ photos with their reviews.

“Yelp’s review highlights give you a birds-eye-view of our community’s favorite elements of a business,” says Menezes. “Because review highlights are so useful, we’ve given them a huge upgrade, mining our review data to call out the best menu items, prices and important information like whether a bar is beer and wine only. Looks like we should head to Tataki South during happy hour, try the Garlic Edamame to start and order the one-of-a-kind Extinguisher Roll (yum!).”

They’ve also adjusted the column width and font size to make it easier to read reviews, while adding large photos in-line.

In other Yelp news, the company has partnered with Yahoo to integrate its reviews and listings into Yahoo local search results.